Gala Placidia's activity

Yes, I agree, Bruno, but I think that we are looking at a possible claim of Italian citizenship through "Jure Sanguinis" and in order to do that, the Italian ancestor must be born after 1861, as there is no Italian nationality before that date (Unification). The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies became a province of the Kingdom of Sardinia (Savoy House) around that time, so I do not know how accurate the keeping of civil records would have been under the circumstances. If the ancestor was born between 1860 and 1870, it is quite possible that the most reliable records are going to be found in the Parish archives.

Hi again! If you have your grandfather's date of birth and it is not in the 1860-1880 period, you can write to the local Comune, in Italian, and give them  as much information as possible, date of birth, name, parent's names and ask them to look whether they have his birth records. You may be lucky and they may answer with information or suggestions. In any case, I would also write to the Parish (and in your case, it looks as if there is only one, http://monteforte-irpino.corriere.it/parrocchie/parrocchie.shtmlIn any case, keep on trying and do not worry if some data included in the immigration records is not totally accurate. Names and dates often contain mistakes. Be patient! Good luck! 

As it has been said, you will need to contact not only the Anagrafe's office, but also the parish churches in the area. The reason is that the Anagrafe (or Civil Registry) has not always existed. It was created after the unification of Italy through Regio Decreto Nr 2105 on the 31st December 1864, although this date does not mean that every Comune in Italy implemented it. There was also another Royal Decree (Nr 666 dated 28 January 1872) which ordered that all changes of domicile or address had to be recorded... Well, again, it did not happen in all cases.... Before the Unification of Italy, the only written records about a person's birth, baptism, marriage and death were kept by the local parishes. After the 1864 decree, the Church continued to keep its records, but the Anagrafe slowly became the official source. There is another point that you have to keep in mind. To locate records in Italy is not an easy task. Besides wars, invasions, fires, earthquakes and similar events, some records may be "lost" and it is extremely difficult to find them (I shall explain later on our personal experience). Also, keep in mind that because Latin was the official language in the Church, some records are written in that language, instead of Italian, which may cause further difficulties.We have found that both the Comune and the Church were very helpful; however, you have to know what you are searching for and gather as much information as possible regarding dates, places, names... this will facilitate your search. And if you engage the help of professionals, although they may try as much as possible to locate those documents, they may still encounter many difficulties.And this brings me to our own experience. It all started quite a few years ago, when we tried to locate the birth certificate of my husband's grandfather. We got the assistance of the local Comune who told us to contact the local Parish as the birth had taken place around 1864. A relative in Italy tried to locate the document to no avail. She even sent and paid a researcher to find it... No results. It was possible to locate the records for all the brothers and sisters, but his... was a mystery. A couple of years ago, we decided to try to find the baptism certificate and we went to the town. We already knew which Parish Church had the family records, which was helpful. We spoke to the sexton. who was an elderly man and he took us into a room full of large books. He proceeded to look into the index of each one of those books (at least they were indexed.... or so we thought!). Same story... grandfather was not there. I begged him to look around 1864 and so he did... but I quickly realised that the man had a very poor vision, the books were handwritten and his knowledge of Latin was nil... After one hour looking through them, but not giving me a chance to do it by myself, he became tired and said that the search was hopeless. We went back to the hotel, very disappointed, but then decided to try our luck again the following day. I really wanted to look at the books by myself for several reasons. My late father was a genealogist and I had helped him many times with his researches. My Latin was very good, particularly reading old documents and I could interpret almost any handwriting, so my chances of finding a missing document were higher. I prayed to all the saints and we returned to the parish the following day. And then, my prayers were answered. The sexton was extremely busy with a couple of parishioners, he gave us an evil look, but then I managed to explain to him that I had experience in searching for documents and I even showed him a pair of white cotton gloves that I had brought so that he will allow me to handle the old books. He reluctantly accepted this and after only 15 minutes of search... there it was, the baptism certificate with all the names (he had 5 Christian names) all written in Latin in a terrible handwriting. Obviously, the person who did the index decided that it was too complicated to include in it and gave it a miss... For this reason, always try to get as much information as possible beforehand and do not despair, as in many cases the records are not totally accurate.I wish you good luck in your searches... You are going to need it 

Further to modicasa's answer, your best bet would be the nearest ENIT {Italian Tourism Office) and they have branches in many cities and countries around the world. Here is the link http://www.enit.it/en/

The offer for "San Silvestro" in Rome is very big. This may help http://www.newyearseverome.com/

Hi, all museums will be closed on both Christmas and New Year. Restaurants...some will be closed, the ones that belong to hotels will be open. Locals will be celebrating with their families at home. Eat lentils on New Year's Day for good luck. And churches will be open and there will be solemn masses. Even if you are not a Catholic, you will be welcome and it is an interesting experience.P.S. Forgot to say that many places will close earlier on Christmas and New Year's Eves.

Good advice, Fred. I would only add that Fragola grapes are delicious and very healthy. Lots of antioxidants. Highly recommended by nutritionists.

Lovely! Thank you for sharing. Best wishes, as you have a lot of work ahead.

Barry, I do agree in that it takes time and effort to find the property that suits your individual wishes and budget is a major constraint; however, I do not agree with your statement regarding Tuscany. The very high prices you refer to are those of the Chianti region or Florence. Certainly, if you wish to have a villa in Cortona "Under the Tuscan sun" style , it would cost you a lot; however, other areas of Tuscany towards the north, but equally beautiful and well communicated, such as the "Toscana Verde" , Val di serchio-Garfagnana, Lunigiana, Swizzera Pesciatina... to name a few cost only a fraction of those prices and compare very well with properties in say... Abruzzo, Le Marche and others. It is a matter of making a thorough research and this is a good guide, as it gives average prices per square metre throughout Italy.I have checked prices for my area (Bagni di Lucca) and they seem to be fairly accurate in general. Have a look: http://www.immobiliare.it/prezzi-mq/

There are very "calm" areas in every region of Italy. It all depends where you choose to go. Certainly, you cannot compare Florence with say... Ghivizzano, if we are talking about Tuscany. We would not like to live in Florence, but we do like to visit frequently, that's why we chose Bagni di Lucca, which allows us to have the best of both worlds. And if you want to really enjoy Italy, anywhere in Italy, avoid the month of August. The beaches are impossible, the roads are a nightmare and it is really hot!